Interview with Bernie Goulet # VRK-A-L-2009-001 Interview # 1: January 8, 2009 Interviewer: Mark Depue
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Interview with Bernie Goulet # VRK-A-L-2009-001 Interview # 1: January 8, 2009 Interviewer: Mark DePue COPYRIGHT The following material can be used for educational and other non-commercial purposes without the written permission of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. “Fair use” criteria of Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 must be followed. These materials are not to be deposited in other repositories, nor used for resale or commercial purposes without the authorization from the Audio-Visual Curator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, 112 N. 6th Street, Springfield, Illinois 62701. Telephone (217) 785-7955 DePue: Today is Thursday, January 8, 2009. This is my first interview for the year. My name is Mark DePue. I’m a volunteer for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s Oral History Program.It’s my pleasure to be with Bernie Goulet today. Bernie is a resident of Springfield, a longtime friend of mine, and most important for today, a Korean War veteran. What’s most interesting to me, Bernie, is that you had the unfortunate distinction of being there the first year and were actually in the 7th ID [Infantry Division] at the Chosin Reservoir and then afterwards as well. We have a lot to talk about, but I always start at the beginning. Goulet: That’s a good place. DePue: The beginning is when and where you were born. Goulet: Well, I was born right here in Springfield, April 22, 1931, which makes me about seventy-seven and two-thirds now. DePue: Seventy-seven years young, right? Goulet: Right. DePue: Did you grow up in Springfield? Goulet: Yes. DePue: How did the family come to be at Springfield? Goulet: Well, the Goulets were, of course, French Canadians, and they sort of migrated down through Chicago and finally down to Springfield from Chicago. Bernie Goulet Interview # VRK-A-L-2009-001.01 DePue: Any idea when that happened? Goulet: Well, it had to be in about the 1870s, I guess, and my dad was born in 18—oh, wait, my dad was born in Chicago, that’s right, in 1880. So it must have been after that they came down. DePue: Okay, but they’ve been in Springfield for quite a while. Goulet: Oh, quite a while, since about 1886 or ’87, I guess. DePue: Do you know what the family was doing for a living? Goulet: Not really. It’s funny, they didn’t talk about a lot of things. I know for awhile, my grandfather was a barber, and I (laughs) understand he was also a gambler for awhile. I’m not sure just what other things. Well, then of course, my other grandfather on the Neef side, my mother’s side, was a German immigrant, and came through Ellis Island, I guess—I’m going to have to look that up some day—and he was a saloon keeper for a long time here in Springfield. Had one right across, practically, from where the Orpheum Theatre was. [on Fifth Street north of Washington Street] DePue: What was your mother’s maiden name? Goulet: My mother’s maiden name was Neef. It was with two e’s, N-e-e-f, but it was pronounced “Neff,” just like N-e-f-f. DePue: Well, that is interesting. What did your father do for a living? Goulet: My father was a state worker, and he was periodically in and out of good jobs, depending on which political party was in. DePue: You were born in 1931 in one of the darkest years of the Great Depression, in a time period that was pretty long, lasted all the way to the Second World War. He was able to keep employed all that time? Goulet: Well, the state had to run, of course, and they needed their people to run it;(laughs) as long as the Republicans were in, my dad was in. And when the Republicans were out, why, Dad was usually out and working at something else for a while. DePue: What agency did your dad work at? Goulet: Oh, boy. I know he worked in the archives building for a while. He had a job over where the—well, it’s not called the Centennial Building anymore... DePue: But the Centennial Building is right next to the Capitol. Goulet: Right, mm-hmm. Yeah. 2 Bernie Goulet Interview # VRK-A-L-2009-001.01 DePue: You mentioned that as long as the Republicans were in power, he had a job. Does that mean he was very active in the Republican party? Goulet: Oh, yeah. He was out with his campaigning and his distributing campaign literature and the whole thing all the time, when campaigns were on. DePue: Would it be correct to say, though, that during that time frame, a lot more positions were beholden to the party in power? Goulet: Oh, yes, I think so. The old spoils system was in full power back then, right, and that was just accepted (laughs) by everyone. (laughs) Dad would sit by the radio and listen to that election, and if the Democrats won, why, (laughs) he’d start making plans for the lean years. DePue: Well, at the national level, these were very much Democratic years when you were growing up. Goulet: Oh yeah, yeah. Well, Governor [Henry] Horner was in for a long time, I remember, but then [Dwight] Green got in, and he also was in for quite a while. That was a Republican dynasty for quite a while while Green was in there. DePue: What else do you remember about growing up during the Depression? Goulet: Well, I remember the WPA [Works Progress Administration] crews working on things. I can remember the guys coming to our back door and asking for a meal. DePue: The guys? Goulet: Well, no, the unemployed, I guess, or the hobos. They’d tell Mom, “I just got in from Chicago, and I’m so hungry; I just need something to eat,” and Mom would always fix them something to eat, but they always had to do something for it. They had to take out some ashes or chop some wood or rake some leaves or anything like that. Mom would find them some little job, and then she’d fix them a nice meal. DePue: What was your address then? Goulet: Three seventeen West Jackson. It’s where the State Visitors’ Center is now. DePue: So pretty close to the railroad tracks? Is that how the hobos were getting to town in the first place? Goulet: Well, yeah, they were coming in on Third Street trains. Yeah, it wasn’t too far from the tracks. And of course, it was awful near the state buildings, too, which made it very handy for Dad to walk to work and for Mom to walk downtown, because we didn’t even have a car. 3 Bernie Goulet Interview # VRK-A-L-2009-001.01 DePue: Where did you end up going to high school? Goulet: Springfield High. I was very lucky—I went to St. Agnes Grade School, which was only a block and a half away, so I just—it’s part of the visitors’ center too, now, of course. (laughter) DePue: Does that mean you grew up a Catholic? Goulet: Oh, yes. Right. We had three houses, really, that we lived in in that area. One was right across the street to the east from Boone’s Saloon down there at College and Edwards. That’s gone. That’s part of the parking lot for the state building there now. And then with 317 West Jackson, that was, well, just about eight years of my boyhood life. That’s what I always consider my boyhood home. Across the street at 326 West Jackson was the first apartment my wife and I moved to after we were married. DePue: And when did that happen? Goulet: Oh, that—oh, boy. (laughs) DePue : You’re supposed to remember this. Goulet: That was in 1956, I guess. Yeah, ’56. Oh, my gosh, there was the fourth house on Edwards Street—410 West Edwards. By God, it’s gone too. DePue: Well, we’ve got a lot of history to talk before we get up to 1956, so we’re going to double back to the late depression era and your growing up. Were you paying attention at all to what was going on in Europe? Was there a lot of talk about the danger and the Nazis? Goulet: Oh, yeah. I don’t know, but I was very interested as a kid. When the nun would discuss it in school, I seemed to be one of the only ones in the class that would ask questions on it or give my own opinions or anything like that. The kids didn’t seem much interested in what was happening there. DePue: What in particular were you paying attention to? Goulet: Well, the military part of it. Hitler’s coming to power, of course, in the thirties. My mom was very upset by that, of course, being German; she figured that Hitler’s coming to power meant nothing but bad for Germany and she’d be very upset. She’d listen to reports of that on the radio, and once in a while, you’d hear der Führer himself spouting off there, working up the masses. DePue: But you’re still a very young lad at this time. Goulet: Oh, I was. I was, but I—I don’t know. Maybe it was because Mom and Dad were so interested in it that I was so interested in it.